A Palestinian blew himself up while trying to board a bus in southern Israel Sunday in the first suicide attack since the evacuation of settlers from Gaza, puncturing hopes that the historic pullout would break the cycle of violence.
Around 40 people were taken to hospital after the blast in Beersheva, the vast majority of them suffering from shock, although two were in a serious condition, medical sources said.
More serious carnage appeared to have been averted after security at the city's main terminus prevented the attacker from boarding.
The attack comes almost exactly a year to the day after 15 Israelis were killed in a twin attack on two buses in Beersheva.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the latest attack but it came just four days after Israeli troops killed five Palestinian militants during an arrest operation in the West Bank town of Tulkarem.
Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas told reporters that he condemned the attack, describing it as a "terrorist operation."
His national security advisor Jibril Rajub said however that Israel had to expect the consequence of its "crime" in Tulkarem.
"Israel must know that if it continues with this state terrorism it will lead to more violence in the region," Rajub told AFP.
Israel's Internal Security Minister Gideon Ezra said that the action of the bus driver and two security guards had "averted a major disaster". Ezra said Israel would "not hesitate to respond" to the attack which he said underlined how "the Palestinian Authority must dismantle the terrorist groups."
But he also expressed hope that it would not herald a start to a new round of bloodshed.
"I think and I hope that this attack does not mark the start of a wave of terrorism," Ezra told AFP at the scene of the blast.
The bus driver who alerted the security guards said he had challenged the bomber as he looked suspicious. "He was very pale so I warned the guards," Eli Horech said.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has argued that his controversial pullout of settlers and troops from Gaza, the first time that Israel has left occupied Palestinian territory, would improve the security of Israelis. Right-wing critics however claimed that it encourages militant groups who have been portraying the pullout as an act of surrender.
Groups such as Islamic Jihad and the larger Hamas movement are meant to be observing a truce agreement. However, while there has been a significant decline in Palestinian attacks since the start of the year, the truce has been less than watertight.
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